TechNote (Archived)

Error "Offending operator: 'userdict'" When Opening a File in Illustrator for Mac OS

Issue

When opening a document, Adobe Illustrator returns the error, "Can't open the illustration. The illustration contains an illegal operand. Offending operator: 'userdict' Context:

%%CreationDate (04/10/93) ()

userdict"

When you click OK, the file opens but it is empty.

Solutions

Do one or more of the following:

Note: The solutions below resolve the problem with the current file. To prevent this problem from occurring with future files you create, remove and reinstall the PPD (PostScript Printer Description) file and printer driver, obtain an updated PPD file or driver from the printer manufacturer, or select a different printer in the Chooser.

Solution 1

Change the page area information of the document:

1. Open a copy of the document in a text editor that can save in text-only format (e.g., Microsoft Word or WordPerfect).

Disclaimer: Adobe does not support modifying files with a text editor. Adobe strongly recommends that you have experience editing PostScript code in a text editor and saving files in text-only (e.g., ASCII) format. If you incorrectly modify a file or save it in the wrong format, you may damage it further. Always modify a copy of the file so you can revert to the original if problems occur.

2. Locate the line that begins

%%PageOrigin:

3. Change both numbers beside "%%PageOrigin:" to 0 (zero) so that the line reads

%%PageOrigin:0 0

4. Save the document in text-only format, close the text editor, and then open the document in Illustrator.

5. Select the Page tool and move the printable area back to the desired location.

Solution 2

Convert the document to PDF using Adobe Acrobat Distiller, then open the PDF file in Illustrator.

Note: Acrobat Distiller uses the bounding box of an EPS file to determine the page size of the PDF file. If desired, adjust the page dimensions and printable area after opening the PDF file in Illustrator.

Solution 3

Place the document into a page-layout application (e.g., Adobe PageMaker or QuarkXPress), print the page-layout document to disk as a PostScript *.ps file, then open the *.ps file in Illustrator. For more information on printing to file, see the documentation for your page layout application.

Solution 4

If the document was created on another computer and you have a previously saved version of it, open a copy of the document and use the Page tool to position the printable area, and then save the document.

Additional Information

In PostScript, the %%PageOrigin line specifies the lower left corner of a document's page area. Illustrator uses information in the selected printer driver (e.g., Epson Color Stylus or Hewlett-Packard DeskWriter) or PPD file to determine a document's page origin. If the printer driver or PPD is damaged, Illustrator may write incorrect page origin values into a document. These incorrect values can cause Illustrator to return an error when opening the document.